Aviation Partners has sold shipsets of its blended winglets to the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and AirMed International, the world’s largest fleet operator of Hawker 800SPs. The Mavericks will install the winglets on its Boeing 757-200 in February 2006. “Winglet technology allows the Mavericks’ 757 to achieve the maximum range possible,” says Aviation Partners’ vice-president Gary Dunn.
The 757-200 typically flies 600h a year with average stage lengths of 2.5h. The winglets enhance the short-field take-off capability of the aircraft, which flies into several airfields with 6,200ft (1,890m) runways. Off season, the aircraft runs round the world expedition trips, frequently landing in far-flung locations and was the first 757-200 to land at Svalbard in Norway, the most northerly airport in the world.
Neil Sparkman, maintenance manager for the Mavericks, says the winglets will save the team between 5% and 7% on fuel. “We’re certain we’ll recover our entire investment on resale of the aircraft,” he says.
Birmingham, Alabama-based AirMed is the only air ambulance company in North America to use Hawker 800s exclusively for medical transport and flies 1,800h a year. The winglets will allow the company to fly further without augmenting flightcrews. The winglets add an extra 2,000ft to the climb and allow the aircraft to cruise at 39,000ft. Says AirMed founder and chief executive Jeff Tolbert, “Prior to installing the winglets we did a leg from Beijing to Riyadh which was 11min over our 10h two-crew limitation. This not only delayed the flight, but cost an extra $6,000 to reposition a third crewmember to Beijing. With the winglets we would have avoided this delay and the expense.”
Source: Flight Daily News
